PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Khyber (BoK) for opening accounts of deserving families for Insaf Food Card announced by it for low income households.

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to launch Insaf Food Card scheme under which net cash would be provided to those people having income less than Rs. 25000 per month for purchasing essential food items.

Under the scheme, initially one million deserving households would be provided Rs. 2100 per month which would cost Rs 25 billion annually. An MOU has also been signed to this end between provincial food department and Bank of Khyber.

The MoU signing ceremony was held here on Wednesday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan as chief guest. Besides provincial cabinet members Atif Khan, Shakeel Khan, Fazal Shakoor, Malik Shah Muhammad Wazir, Taj Muhammad Tarand, Mian Khaliq-Ur-Rahman, Riaz Khan, Arif Ahmadzai, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif high ups of food department and Bank of Khyber attended the signing ceremony.

As per MoU, Bank of Khyber will open accounts for eligible households and they would be provided specifically designed Insaf Food Cards. In the areas where BOK branches are not available, amount would be transferred through mobile companies to wallet accounts of deserving people.

Talking on the occasion, the chief minister said that after the Sehat Card Plus Scheme, Food Card was another historic and pro poor project of PTI government through which provincial government has yet fulfilled another commitment made to the people.

He said that under the scheme initially financial support would be extended to one million households of low income in the province at a cost of Rs. 25 billion annually. He said that the scheme would be initiated formally by the first of July this year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022